Anda Chirila

Anda Chirila serves as Assistant Professor in the Department of Neuroscience at Brown University since 2025, affiliated with the Robert J. and Nancy D. Carney Institute for Brain Science. Her research program integrates molecular-genetic tools, electrophysiology, computational modeling, and behavioral approaches to investigate neural circuits.

Her educational background includes a PhD from Brown University under Julie Kauer (focusing on synaptic signaling in pain mechanisms) followed by postdoctoral training at Harvard University.

Dr. Chirila specializes in somatosensation—the neural processing of touch, pain, temperature, balance, and body position—with particular emphasis on spinal cord dorsal horn and brainstem circuits. She investigates how bodily sensory signals are dynamically shaped by experience and internal states, challenging the notion of passive signal transmission. Her work aims to uncover mechanisms disrupted in chronic pain (where gentle touch becomes painful) and autism spectrum disorders (involving tactile hypersensitivity).

She actively leverages the Carney Institute's collaborative ecosystem between computational and experimental neuroscientists, utilizing institutional resources to advance body-brain physiology research. No details regarding student mentorship or grant funding were provided in the source text.